More practical - long or short hair (Full Version)

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Sideways -> More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:15:07 AM)

Chelle's lovely new hair do got me thinking. What do you think is a more practical hairstyle, longer or shorter hair? My hair is on the longer side, but all I ever do put it back in a ponytail, and I'm getting pretty sick of it.

Since I was a teen I've struggled to learn braids, twists and such. My mom is great at fixing her own hair, but I'm terrible at it, and I don't have the time to sit in front of a mirror all morning. I'm thinking of chopping it off, but I'd be a little sad to do that, as my hair is one of the nicer features God gave to me. It's very thick, but I think it looks nice.

But I can't stand to simple have it long and loose. It had to be controlled in some way, but ponytails get really old.



artemis -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:21:22 AM)

It probably depends on you and your hair type, but for me, long hair is a hundred, million times easier. When I say "long," I mean at least past the middle of my back. Before I got it cut, my hair came below my hips and I could do dozens of different braids, twists and buns to keep it out of the way, or wear it down, half down or with a headband to show off the length. Now that it's short (just past my shoulders), I can either wear it down or in a pony-tail [:(] I am patiently waiting for it to grow out again to a length I like. 1/2" a month is sooooooo slow [:o]

I like my hair best when it is between mid-back and hip-length. I had meant to cut it to just-above-the-middle-of-my-back, but that's not what ended up happening [sm=icon_smile_boggled.gif]

ETA: For instructions on tons of long-hair-dos, look at the styling station at www.longhairloom.com



lexie -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:30:14 AM)

My hair is past my shoulders right now, the longest it's been in a while. I'm contemplating cutting it all off (well to just below my chin.) With long hair all I do is pull it back in a ponytail. When I have short hair, I'm forced to style it.

The really nice thing about having long hair though, is I don't have to blowdry it. When my hair is short it needs to be blowdried to look nice.

I don't know what to do. I spend so much time doing my daughter's hair and taking care of it, I feel like I don't have the time to take care of mine in the morning!!!



Georgia-Peach -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:43:21 AM)

I guess I should answer since I just chopped mine. At this moment I am finding shorter hair more practical for me. Before I chopped it the length was to about the top of my bra strap and majority of the time I had it in a ponytail of some sort. It took forever to blow dry, then straighten, and then half the time if would get all frizzy. My sister has long hair and it is gorgeous. She goes from curly to straight and it seems to always hold the style...so jealous! Anyway, I am loving the fact that I don't have hair hanging all over and it is much cooler. I also like that I can still pull majority of it into a ponytail if need be. I feel better self esteem wise at the moment with shorter hair too...I don't know why, but I do.



manda59 -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:58:37 AM)

Shorter hair (shoulder length or shorter) is miles easier and more practical. I get tired of the "scraped back into a ponytail" look and it really doens't suit my face. I wash it, rub volumising mousse through it, style it, and leave it to dry naturally. In the morning, I just spray a little styling lotion on the sides and gently sweep it back. Having it shorter makes it easier to give it some lift - longer hair, with my face, just hangs down and does me no favours.



Georgia-Peach -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 9:14:58 AM)

quote:

Having it shorter makes it easier to give it some lift - longer hair, with my face, just hangs down and does me no favours.

Same here! I could never get/keep volume in my hair when it past a certain length, but with it shorter it is very full and has some volume on top.



PrudentWife -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 9:29:59 AM)

As far as practicality, nothing is quicker than the ponytail.

But as many have stated, that gets old. My hair is so fine and flat it must be put up if it's long. It just looks stringy down. I too struggle with making twists and buns and such look good with my hair.

But if you want to wear a style, and not just a pony tail, short hair is definitely quicker to style.



An aside, before I came to CW, I thought any hair style past the chin was long hair. Most of the ladies here call themselves having a short hair style when its at their sholders. Most everyone I know IRL has a cut well above the sholders.



isaacsmom -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 9:43:35 AM)

It really depends on the hair type, personal preference, and the person's ability or desire to work with it.

I can do braids/twists, all that kind of stuff, but honestly I feel like my hair is a LOT of work to maintain when it's long (it's very thick and curly, I have to straighten it and work to keep it healthy). My hair is easier to maintain short, therefore it's more practical for me.

However, some people might feel their hair is harder to maintain while it's short because of the texture, curliness/straightness, etc. Some people may think it's more practical for them to have long hair and put it up nicely.



artemis -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 9:49:02 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: PrudentWife

An aside, before I came to CW, I thought any hair style past the chin was long hair. Most of the ladies here call themselves having a short hair style when its at their sholders. Most everyone I know IRL has a cut well above the sholders.


I wonder if that's a regional thing? I'm from a small town in the south (Texas) and know almost no one under the age of 40 who doesn't have hair past their shoulders. Most of the young women have hair between just-past-their-shoulders to mid-back or waist length. Even a lot of the women I know who are in their 40s and 50s have hair long enough to pull into a ponytail. I think that with the heat here, it is actually cooler to have long hair that you can put up than short hair that touches your neck...



Consecrated2God -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 12:18:04 PM)

I've had my hair everything from so short people thought I was a boy, to long enough to sit on. Right now it's about shoulder length. There are pros and cons to both, of course.

Here's what I like about having long hair:

I can get it off my neck easier than I can short hair, because it all sweeps up into a ponytail or a bun. With short hair it's too short to gather up, and it lies on my neck all the time. I have variety of what I can do with it--ponytails, buns, upsweeps, clips, etc. I don't have to pay to get it cut all the time, and I don't have to use any product in my hair when it's down, so it saves me time. When I have long hair I wash it and let it dry on it's own, so it's easy to care for. If it's too long I find it's difficult to style, and too much hair for my ponytail. It gets heavy and tends to get caught under my arms and make it difficult to sit up.

Here's what I like about having short hair: It doesn't take as long to wash, but I have to style it or it looks bad on me. When I do style it, it looks good on me, and adds volume around my face. With long hair I find the ponytail look doesn't flatter my face as much. I think it's cuter on me, but I am very limited in what I can do with it. If it's too short I look like a boy. I like it layered when I cut it short.



HisCovenant -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 2:13:36 PM)

I would say it depends on your hairstylist, the texture of your hair, and how much time and effort you are willing to put into it.

Currently, my hair is highly textured and cut to chin length (taken with my camera phone which is a low quality print!!) I blow out my bangs with a round brush to frame my face and then just dry the back quickly. It takes a total of two minutues. I can also straighten my hair with a round brush for a more conservative look which takes 5-10 minutes. I don't do that often.

For me, shorter is better because I have very fine, thick, wavy hair. I have a great stylist that knows what he's doing, so he is able to do an interior cut without taking out uneaven hanks of hair. No matter what length the hair is, I still have to have it thinned. However, if I didn't have such a great stylist, longer would be better because it's more socially acceptable to have a shaggy long hairdo than a shaggy short hairdo.

Shorter is also better because with my waves I have to do something to my hair. If I let it dry naturally around my face it would be unattractive and many times the back gets frizzy if it dries naturally. Since it is shorter, it doesn't take much time to dry and the cut I have works with my waves.

Shorter also takes a lot less time to wash and rinse.

Longer will work well with my hair texture, too. The problems with having my hair longer are that it is fine (silky) and that it takes a lot of time to style. If I leave it wavy, it takes 25 minutes to dry. If I straighten it it takes 45 minutes (w/o a flat iron.) If I curl it, it takes 35 minutes if it's dirty and i hour if I wash it. What a waste of time!!!!!!! I can't just let it air dry b/c of the frizzies and because my back would be wet for several hours. Also, because it is fine there is a lot of things I can't do with it. For example, I can't braid it because it just slips right out and there are several types of hairclips that it will slide right out of. Not to mention it's thick, so a hairclip has to be able to grip my hair and hold the weight of it. Back when I permed it (read: damaged it) it would easily braid or stay in any clip, but I would rather look healthy than be able to have a french braid. In the end with long hair, I wasn't washing it enough and was pulling it back too much. I was sick of mine, too, Ruth.

I'd recommend that you find an incredible stylist that will work with your hairs natural texture and strong points, understand your time constraints, and know what styles work best with your facial features. Let him/her guide you. There may be things you can have done to make a longer hair style work better for you, such as more layering, an interior cut, or a shorter-but-still-long hairstyle. Or you may find that the beautiful hair God gave you can still be beautiful as a short cut.



Consecrated2God -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 2:33:22 PM)

What a cute picture! I love your hair, and you are beautiful, too! [:)]



HisCovenant -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 2:34:02 PM)

Thanks!



Karaboo2 -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 2:53:42 PM)

As long as I have little ones around, I will keep my hair longer and pulled back (easier to keep away from tugging fingers!) Once all of the kids are out of the "must pull mom's hair" stage, I'll consider going to a somewhat shorter style, but not much shorter ... I have so many cowlicks in my hair that I need the length to weigh it down and stop it from going in every direction. (Mind you, it'll be a while before I leave the ponytail stage ... bambino #5 hasn't yet arrived)



Auben -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 2:59:46 PM)

Like several have said, which is more practical depends on you, your likes, your texture, your thickness, your style.

Personally I will not touch a curling iron (and I don't need a straightening iron). I won't blow dry. I have thin, straight, oily hair and a strong face. It looks weird short. The shorter it is the more masculine I look.

To me, having long hair is much much much more practical. I can let it air-dry. I comb it out and throw it up in a bun or twist. It takes all of 2 minutes to do my hair. If I had short hair it would take me longer then that to curl/blow dry/style it so that it didn't look like my hair was sticking to my head.

I used to be one of those people who only knew how to do pony-tails. Then I joined the Long Hair Community and picked up some pointers. I bought some nice clips (not from Claires) and invested in some good conditioner. Now I can have my hair long when I want it and up off my neck when I want it. It seems like the best of both worlds.



isaacsmom -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 3:01:42 PM)

quote:

What a cute picture! I love your hair, and you are beautiful, too!


I agree! [:)]

Here are some pictures of my drastic change over the past year:

My hair, doing it's own thing. This is its natural texture.
Natural hair II
long hair straightened
Got tired of the longness, so went to this -- BLAH
Got really brave!!
Mother's Day, at its shortest . . .
Current hair

It's very short in back now, and angled long in the front. It's called an "inverted bob". I think it's one of those styles that works for a variety of faces. My face is very square, so it helps add some shape. I think that's one of the reasons I think my face looks "blah" when my hair is long. And my features are big (eyes, nose, mouth) so short hair seems to make them look sharper instead of so blunt. Make sense? LOL.

And, like you, Zippy, my hair takes a long, long time to dry when it's long. So I wasn't washing it very often (every few days).



HisCovenant -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 3:06:44 PM)

I love the shorter dos, Rach! The longer ones are pretty, but the shorter are spectacular.

We must have similar hair because the shot of it long and curly in the mirror is slightly more curly than mine is. Yours borders on curly where mine is definately wavy.

BTW, you really look like your momma!



isaacsmom -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 3:09:03 PM)

Thanks!



Georgia-Peach -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 3:13:52 PM)

Zippy, beautiful picture!

Rachel, your natural texture hair is beautiful! But, I loved all your hairstyles too.



_Cinderella_ -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 8:05:04 PM)

Short hair is sooooooooooo much better. I have my hair short and layered and it is the best. I love that it never gets in my way.



Miss Giggles -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 10:26:57 PM)

It depends on the cut and the hair, and the shape of your face. I don't spend a lot of time on my hair so for me it would have to be something easy to style.

I wish I could have the guy from what not to wear do my hair, he is a genius. He would probably cut it some way I never would have thought of and it would look great.



Karaboo2 -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 10:40:08 PM)

I'll admit ... it would be neat to see what Nick Arojo (or however you spell his last name) would do with my hair ...

As is, I've got an amazing stylist who has known me and done my hair pretty much since birth ... any time I've gone elsewhere I've had to go back and get him to fix the mess.



loveleee -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/6/2008 10:52:19 PM)

I cut my hair short in the fall, grow it long for the summer (ponytails and such) dont know why. It just seems to be a cycle.[8|]



sunshine4God -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/7/2008 12:24:21 AM)

I love how my hair look whether it is long or short.However it is much easier styling it when its short.



spitzu -> RE: More practical - long or short hair (8/7/2008 12:33:35 AM)

Short hair, definitely. I prefer mine around my chin. I really dislike long hair!



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